National Politics Team

Led by veteran journalists in Washington and in key states around the country, the AP national politics team endeavors to break news while providing clarity and crucial context. Its members boast an impressive record of exclusive reports, accuracy and accountability journalism.

Meet the team:

Julie Pace is Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press. Appointed in 2017, she leads reporters and editors working in a central all-formats newsroom and in offices at the White House and other key locations. She previously served as AP’s chief White House correspondent and reported extensively on the 2016 campaign. Pace joined AP's White House team in 2009 after covering the 2008 presidential election.

Kathleen Hennessey is deputy bureau chief for newsgathering, overseeing coverage of the White House, Congress and politics. She has served as White House editor and reporter for the AP since rejoining the news agency in 2015. Previously Hennessey covered Congress, the White House and national politics for the Los Angeles Times.

Steven Sloan directs the national political reporting team from Washington. He joined AP from CNN, where he was most recently the director of enterprise reporting at the Washington bureau. Sloan previously was managing editor for content at CNN Politics, overseeing all in-depth political enterprise coverage and breaking news, and worked as congressional editor at Politico and a reporter at Bloomberg News.

Bill Barrow is a national politics reporter based in Atlanta, focused on the Democratic Party in the 2018 midterm elections. He covers national political trends with special attention to a 13-state region that extends from Maryland to Louisiana. Before joining AP, Barrow covered politics for newspapers in Alabama and Louisiana.

Thomas Beaumont covers national politics from the Midwest, with a focus on U.S. Senate races in battleground states. In 2016 he covered former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Beaumont, based in Iowa, joined the AP in 2011 after working as The Des Moines Register’s chief political reporter.

Lisa Lerer is a national politics reporter based in Washington. She covered Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in the 2016 election and completed a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2018. Lerer has reported in Washington for 10 years, covering the White House, elections, Congress and lobbying for the AP, Politico, Businessweek and Bloomberg News.

Stephen Ohlemacher is the election decision editor, manging a team of analysts that declares the winner in nearly every U.S. election. During presidential primaries, he oversees the AP delegate count, the gold standard for tracking presidential nominating contents. Ohlemacher spent nine years covering Congress for AP, writing about economic issues with a focus on tax policy and Social Security.

Steve Peoples is a national politics reporter based in New York, with a focus on the Republican Party and presidential politics. He has covered politics for more than a decade and spent much of the 2016 election cycle focused on the national Republican Party. Peoples traveled with Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012.

Emily Swanson is AP’s polling editor. A member of the AP polling unit in Washington since 2014, she designs survey questionnaires, analyzes polling data and writes about public opinion. Swanson previously worked in survey research for Pollster.com and the Huffington Post.

Covering Congress:

Dustin Weaver is AP's congressional editor, overseeing coverage of Capitol Hill. Weaver joined AP from The Hill, where he directed the paper’s print and digital coverage of Congress, the White House and other Washington beats. He previously served as The Hill’s business and lobbying editor and has held editing positions at The Washington Post Express and The Washington Examiner.

Lisa Mascaro is AP’s chief congressional correspondent, leading coverage of Capitol Hill. She spearheads reporting on all facets of Congress, including legislative maneuvering, elections and the relationship between party leaders and the White House. Prior to joining AP, Mascaro spent eight years covering Congress and presidential politics for the Los Angeles Times.

Matthew Daly is a congressional reporter with a focus on energy, environment, politics, and more. An 18-year veteran of the AP, Daly is a former chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents at the U.S. Capitol and a former AP White House reporter. Before joining the national staff, Daly was the AP's Washington correspondent for the Pacific Northwest.

Alan Fram has covered Congress for AP since 1987, specializing in budget and spending issues. He has reported on battles over guns, health care and immigration, as well as numerous congressional campaigns, with his most notable election night coming in 2000. A native New Yorker, Fram joined AP in Newark, New Jersey, in 1981.

Kevin Freking has been with AP since 2005, covering health and veterans issues, California politics, the White House and now Congress. On the Hill, he covers an array of issues, including judicial nominations, ethics and Dodd-Frank repeal efforts. Prior to joining AP, Freking was Washington correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Covering the White House:

Nancy Benac is White House news editor, overseeing AP’s coverage of the Trump administration. She has reported on government and politics in Washington for more than three decades, covering a wide variety of beats, including the Clinton White House. Benac served as political editor for three national election cycles.

Jill Colvin covers the White House with a focus on immigration, environmental and climate issues. She traveled with Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and previously was a New Jersey-based national politics reporter. Prior to AP, Colvin spent three years in New York as a City Hall reporter for DNAinfo.com and was a political reporter at the New York Observer.

Jonathan Lemire is a White House reporter based in New York. He covers President Trump and his New York operations, Trump’s businesses and the link between those and the White House. Prior to joining AP, he spent a dozen years at the New York Daily News, covering politics -- including the 2012 presidential election -- as well as crime, breaking news and the 9/11 terror attacks.

Catherine Lucey is a White House reporter with a focus on Ivanka Trump, family and child-care policies and Medicare. She previously covered politics and government in Iowa, including the state’s leadoff presidential caucuses. Before joining AP in 2013, Lucey worked for the Philadelphia Daily News, where she reported on political campaigns and served as City Hall bureau chief.

Zeke Miller is a White House reporter covering the intersection of policy and politics. He joined AP in 2017 after covering the White House, national politics and the 2016 presidential campaign for TIME, and previously was the first White House correpondent for Buzzfeed. Miller is a member of the executive board of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Darlene Superville has covered the White House, with a focus on first lady Melania Trump and former first lady Michelle Obama, since 2009. She was a lead editor on the national political desk for the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, and covered GOP presidential and vice presidential candidates in 1996 and, later, Congress.

Ken Thomas is a White House reporter focused on trade and labor politics and congressional relations. In the 2016 election cycle, he covered the Democratic Party and presidential politics as a national politics reporter. Thomas covered the White House and President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and has reported on politics in Iowa and Florida for AP.

evin Freking has been with The Associated Press since 2005 covering health and veterans issues, California politics, teh White House and now Congress. On the Hill, he covers an array of issues, including judician nominations, ethics and Dodd-Frank repeal efforts. Prior to AP, Freking was Washington correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.